Childhood cancer touches too many lives. 

Every year, nearly 1,000 kids and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer in Australia. And every week, three children die from the disease. That’s the size of a classroom of 30 kids dying every term, every year. 

At Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation (SCHF), we are committed to driving innovation that transforms the future for sick kids. One of the most groundbreaking initiatives we’re proud to support is the E2CAR trial at the Children’s Cancer Research Unit (CCRU) at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. This pioneering trial is using Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell) therapy, a precision medicine that turns a child’s own immune system into a powerful weapon against cancer.

CAR T-cell therapy has already revolutionised the treatment of blood cancers. Now, the E2CAR trial is testing its potential against two of the toughest childhood cancers: osteosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma. Together, these cancers account for 12% of all childhood cancers in Australia, impacting over 100 children annually. Current treatments for these cancers—such as chemotherapy—can be highly toxic and often come with devastating side effects, underscoring the urgent need for novel therapies like CAR T.

CAR T-cell therapy works by reprogramming a child’s immune cells to identify and destroy their specific cancer cells. Dr. Luciano Dalla-Pozza, Director of the Cancer Centre for Children, explains: “You hear that children fail therapy. They don’t. Treatments fail. Society fails to deliver curative therapy. The problem is that we've relied on the same treatments for 30, 40, 50 years. Fortunately, they kill cancer, but they don't do it all the time.”

While eight out of ten kids survive, cancer remains the leading cause of disease-related deaths in children aged 1–14. “There has to be a better way, and I can’t think of a more elegant way than using the body itself to fight these infections,” Dr. Dalla-Pozza adds.

Immunotherapy, which enhances the immune system’s ability to combat cancer, has emerged as the new frontier in treatment. CAR T-cell therapy represents one of the most exciting breakthroughs in cancer care, and its application to bone cancers could bring new hope to children whose cancers cannot be cured with conventional therapies.

With your support, the E2CAR trial could turn these breakthroughs into real-world treatments. It could mean giving terminally ill children the chance to celebrate birthdays they never thought they’d see. It could make life-saving therapies available to kids in critical condition.

Your support is vital to help us continue pushing boundaries in childhood cancer research. Together, we can help turn today’s breakthroughs into tomorrow’s cures.

Join us in this fight and make a difference in the lives of children with cancer.